NewNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
The US military has devastated Iran and virtually destroyed its military effectiveness. Duration. Full stop.
Everyone recognizes this and the coverage reflects it.
And yet President Donald Trump is accusing many in the media of wanting America to lose the war, and his FCC chairman is talking about networks losing their licenses.
There is no doubt that the credibility of journalism has declined in the Trump era, and the president has used lawsuits and other tactics to pressure news organizations.
Trump warned that the US is ‘locked and loaded’ to destroy Iran’s ‘crown jewel’ if we want.
President Donald Trump is accusing many people in the media of wanting the US to lose the conflict in Iran. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
At the same time, journalists have an obligation to ask about the latest developments in the war that have divided the MAGA media movement, given the sharp contrast between Trump’s past rhetoric against engaging in foreign wars and his decision to attack Iran and dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
This is hardly a shock, but the president has been aggressive with those asking questions, as if he resents any challenge to the official narrative.
Some journalists have focused on the blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran is using to retaliate against US and Israeli attacks. Oil prices have surged, though they have come down from levels above $100 a barrel, and the response from U.S. allies asked to help police the narrow passage has been slow. These are the facts.
As American casualties mount and Iran looks for ways to retaliate, Trump appears increasingly concerned about ending the war.
On Sunday, when an unidentified reporter on Air Force One asked why he was “sending 5,000 Marines and sailors” to the Middle East, Trump said “You’re a very unpleasant person” and walked away without answering.
During the same flight session, the President was asked about a fundraising letter that had been criticized for depicting the “honorable return” of six fallen American soldiers in Delaware – a solemn occasion generally viewed as above politics.
When the woman revealed herself to ABC News, Trump called the network “one of the worst, most fake, most corrupt.”
“Would you comment on the dead soldiers?” She persisted.
Trump: “ABC News, I think it’s probably the most corrupt news organization on the planet. I think they’re terrible.” After the third attempt he said, “Okay, I don’t want anything else from ABC.”
The spotlight has focused on difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz. (Sahar Al Attar/AFP via Getty Images)
I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the tone. Perhaps he should have provided more context — your critics say so and so — but Trump, rightly or wrongly, heard it as a sharp personal criticism. And this led to this online outcry against the “radical leftwing press”, even mentioning the word “treason”:
“The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), and other lowlife ‘papers’ and media really want us to lose the war. Their terrible reporting is the exact opposite of the real facts! They are really sick and deranged people who have no idea how much harm they do to the United States.”
And yet no question or report is remotely off limits, especially in times of war.
The toll of war at home: Why financial pain and economic uncertainty jeopardize Trump’s campaign to overthrow Iran’s regime
For example, some headlines have emphasized difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump himself yesterday, at a lengthy press conference to discuss the two-year closing of the Kennedy Center, said that some allies are not “enthusiastic” about helping, and some, like Britain, have refused to help at all.
“I think it’s terrible,” the president said, adding that he has long felt that the US spends endless billions defending NATO, but he had long suspected there would be no reciprocal response if needed.
In turn, this underlines why Hormuz has been a legitimate subject for coverage.
A CNN report, with four contributing journalists, said: “Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during a recent classified briefing that they had not planned for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to the attacks, according to three sources familiar with the closed-door session.”
Sorry, it’s hard to imagine there wasn’t a plan, but CNN stands by its reporting.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” began coverage.
“In this group, some people in the press can’t stop. Allow me to make a few suggestions. People look at the TV and they see the banners. They see the headlines. I was in that business. And I know everything is deliberately scripted.”
“For example, a banner or headline, ‘Mideast war intensifies,’ has been appearing on screens for the past few days with scenes of Iran targeting civilian or energy targets because that’s what they do.”
“What should the banner say instead? How about ‘Iran is increasingly desperate’ because they are. They know it, and so do you, if that can be accepted.”
Hegseth criticizes CNN’s ‘unserious’ reporting on Iran conflict, suggests Paramount owner should overhaul network
In his choice of words, Hegseth, an experienced and conservative commentator, suggests that he wanted not just straightforward news headlines but overwhelming support for the war effort. With Israel attacking Lebanon and Iran’s proxy Hezbollah in Tehran, attacking the US embassy in Baghdad – with no casualties – what could possibly go wrong in a “Mideast war intensification”?
Hegseth also condemned “more fake news from CNN. ‘Reports that the Trump administration downplayed the impact of the Iran war on the Strait of Hormuz.’
“Of course, absolutely ridiculous. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. That’s what they always do, hold the strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. This is a fundamentally unserious report.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called reports that the Trump administration downplayed the impact of the Iran conflict on the Strait of Hormuz, “frankly ridiculous.” (Joe Raddle/Getty Images)
The secretary then said the quiet part loudly. CNN, part of Warner Bros. Discovery, is on track to be acquired by Paramount Skydance, the current owners of CBS, where Bari Weiss is editor-in-chief. The outlet is owned by billionaire Larry Ellison and his son David, whom the president yesterday hailed as “great”. He has said that he wants a more balanced approach to news that appeals to both center-right and center-left audiences.
“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth said.
Perhaps that wasn’t his intention, but it seems the Pentagon chief expected the new CBS to play an encouraging role.
And now there are comments from the FCC.
Trump ‘thrilled’ as FCC chairman warns news organizations to course correct or lose license
Trump said yesterday on Truth Social that he was “thrilled to see Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr looking at the licensing of some of these corrupt and highly unpatriotic ‘news’ organizations.”
Carr said on
The chairman said changing course would be a smart business decision, as “confidence in legacy media is now at an all-time low.” That part is undoubtedly true.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said, “Broadcasters must act in the public interest, and if they don’t they will lose their license.” (John McDonnell/Getty Images)
I don’t think we’ll see any broadcast stations lose their licenses, because that’s where these exceptionally rare actions will be taken, not at the network level.
Carr’s critics swung into action, with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren saying this is “Constitutional Law 101” and that “it is illegal for the government to censor free speech, it’s not like Trump’s talk about the Iran war. This threat is straight out of authoritarian play.” Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez warned of the “chilling effect” on MS Now.
There’s a reason this hasn’t happened in more than half a century. In 1969, the commission revoked the license of Jackson, Miss. station WLBT for airing racist programming and refusing to allow a civil-rights viewpoint. How rare this is.
But Carr has a knack for increasing pressure on a network or station to act on its own by invoking the threat of a revoked license, such as citing a nuclear weapon hidden in the basement. He did this during the uproar over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments which caused Disney/ABC to take him off the air, although this was changed to a one-week suspension due to the backlash.
Presidents generally do not like coverage of their military operations. You think LBJ enjoyed hearing Walter Cronkite say upon his return from Saigon that we were losing the war? Richard Nixon argued that nightly battle footage on TV was turning Americans against the war, and his aides encouraged license challenges for CBS, NBC, and ABC stations, although these efforts failed.
Subscribe to Howie’s Media Buzzmeter podcast, a look at the hottest stories of the day
Journalists today need to keep raising important issues about how the Iran war is going, even though the president is clearly upset about it.
By answering several questions yesterday — and admitting that he did not know which Iranian leaders he was negotiating with after the first airstrike — Trump eased some tension.
Click here to download Fox News App
But as we have seen in the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the press serves as an early-warning system when the mission is not so easily accomplished.
